All the news you need to stay informed about what’s currently driving the market – courtesy of Raffa Wealth Management, LLC.
US stocks ended the week at fresh all time highs driven by the Fed meeting minutes and strong corporate earnings. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% and the Dow gained 1.3% for the week. Internationally, Japan was up 0.5% and Europe was flat for the week. The yield on the 10 year Treasury bond was flat for the week ending at 2.25%. Oil prices fell 1.7% over the week on disappointment from the results of the OPEC meeting.
China’s credit rating was downgraded by Moody’s who cited concerns over the countries financial strength over the coming years. It downgraded it from Aa3 to A1. Article
Minutes from the Fed’s May meeting were released and showed that the Fed felt it would “soon be appropriate” to raise short term interest rates. The statement confirmed investors’ expectations that an interest rate increase at the June meeting was on the table. Article
US GDP rose 1.2% in the first quarter. It was revised up from the 0.7% originally estimated.
Huntsman Corp and Clariant are close to an agreement to merge that would create a chemicals giant worth approximately $14 billion.
Jim Hackett was tapped to replace Mark fields as CEO of Ford.
Earnings in the first quarter grew at the fastest pace in six years. Earnings of firms in the S&P 500 grew 13.6% from the year earlier period.
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